Data and Statistics October 2008 Susan Mowers

CRM 6325 Outline Introduction –Who’s Got the Numbers? –Geography in Canada Digging up Numbers –Before You Dig –Where to Dig for Justice statistics –Census 2006 statistics Data versus Statistics, –What’s the Difference? Going further –Government policy critiques –Help –Tutorial : Tabulate data in SPSS

CRM 6325 Why Numbers on Crime and Justice? “He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts -- for support rather than illumination.” Andrew Lang ( ), The Columbia World of Quotations Statistics can provide excellent context, authority (…and illumination) to research Many sources of statistics on crime and justice (which is good news and bad news)

CRM 6325 We have Criteria for evaluating Statistical Sources Who is collecting the data? –What is their reputation for accuracy and objectivity ? Can you review their data and methodology? Does the provider make this information available? Who is the sponsor of the data collection? –What is their agenda? E.g., a political party or toothpaste manufacturer have defined agendas

CRM 6325 Where to Dig for Data? CHECK OUT THESE TWO PUBLIC SOURCES FOR HOMICIDE STATISTICS… 1) 2) ROW 1 - Who collected the data? ROW 2 – How was the data collected (methodology…)? ROW 3 - Who sponsored the collection &/or publication? ROW 4 – What was the sponsor’s mandate?

CRM 6325 *All information in this table dated before 1993 comes from the U.N. Demographic Yearbooks for 1993 and All information dated 1993 and thereafter comes from a draft study prepared for the U.N. Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice`s Vienna Session 28 April-9 May, 1997, except: a) the U.S. homicide figure comes from FBI preliminary data for 1996, and b) the Swiss homicide and suicide rates come from the Swiss national police.

CRM 6325

Copy and Paste Stats from Web tables …1 1)Open Excel on your computer 2)Go to a table on a Web page: - Open the Daily Web page Scroll down to this “Homicides by Province / Territory” table:

CRM 6325 Copy and Paste Stats from Web tables …cont’d 3)Select the table as follows 4)Copy (Cntl + C) 5)Go to your Excel worksheet and Paste (Cntl + P) – in first cell 6)Your table appears in Excel, don’t forget to cite your source, e.g., Statistics Canada “Homicides.” The Daily. October 23. Statistics Canada Catalogue no XIE. (accessed October 25, 2008).

CRM 6325 What not to do with Numbers Ignore them –never use them or –never look further for a more authoritative source (including going to the Library) Never check the organization(s) behind the numbers Never question the methodology and motivation behind the data collection

CRM 6325 New to writing with statistics? 1) Writing with Statistics by Reuben Ternes. Summary: This handout explains how to write with statistics including quick tips, writing descriptive statistics, writing inferential statistics, and using visuals with statistics. “In the casual sense, a statistic is any number that describes a group of objects.” 2) Introduction to the practice of statistics / David S. Moore, George P. McCabe and Bruce Craig. MRT Reserve - MRT circulation desk QA M ) Assistance for getting the most from statistics.

CRM 6325 Statistics can be presented in many ways, as… - a table of numbers, - a few numbers in an article or Web site,, - a graph, * * see Graph types and …Graph types

CRM 6325 … AS A MAP Beware of ecological fallacies

CRM 6325 Statistics WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE or INCIDENTS…? In Canada, Statistics Canada has Standard Geography CRIMES: –Municipal police: Census Metropolitan Areas generally (Ottawa without Gatineau is an exception) –North / rural RCMP: Census Division or counties Injuries, cause of death, diseases and conditions (e.g., depression) –Health regions: regions for provincial health services, e.g., injuries Everything else: –Province/country – and the Census (socio-demographic) in particular has very detailed geography

CRM 6325 Hierarchy of standard geographic units for dissemination, 2006 Census - Figure 20, Census.DictionaryFigure 20Census.Dictionary Urban core over 100,000 Urban police services Municipalities Statistical Administrative Counties Northern and rural police services

CRM 6325 … Who’s Got Numbers? A Whole Lot of places you can find numbers, Of varying degrees of reliability! …so Where to Start to Dig?

CRM 6325 Before You Dig How much do you need – A few numbers, lots of numbers to compare (e.g., crime over time, factors relating to crime), or extensive detailled numbers (e.g., crime by city and gender of offender…)? Will you know how to use it? If you think there may be a good in-depth source for numbers, ask for help.

CRM 6325 Are there any statistics on your Topic? Check official sources – these are often primary sources (excellent!) note, the United Nations is not an official source for crime statistics (go to the country’s national statistical agency)

CRM 6325 Official Statistical Agencies Governments and international agencies produce a lot of statistics Most governments have an official agency to carry surveys, gather data (e.g., from the provinces, analyse data, develop statistical products and publish their results E.g.: –Statistics Canada –--- Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics –U.S. Census Bureau –Office for National Statistics (UK) The University of Ottawa is a member of the Data Liberation Initiative – DLI between the Library and Statistics Canada

CRM 6325 Before you dig Where will you dig? –Start by circling the official agency site to know if you should dig!! (Are you likely to find anything??)

CRM 6325 ARE THERE STATISTICS ON YOUR TOPIC? (A) impact of violent crime, (B) child abuse and its impact … via two basic sources from Statistics Canada… Juristat Annual statistical reports on crime, homicide, impaired driving, justice system AND additional special topics of interest. The Daily News stories on Canada's latest socioeconomic and health trends, including backfiles to 1995 Pre-digging

CRM 6325 Survey for numbers on… TOPIC A : Impact of violent crime on victims ? SOURCE: Juristat: Browse publications onpublications on Crime and justice and from list of “pubns”, select … Juristat FOR Juristat TOPIC ABOVE* (hint, “2007”) Pre-digging – Survey the ground ROW 1 -- What is the source? What is the youngest age covered? ROW 2 -- How current is this information? How long did it take from year of data collection to Publication of this article?

CRM 6325 Survey for numbers on… TOPIC B : Child abuse and neglect and its impact SOURCE: The Daily: 1) Go to The Daily,The Daily 2) Type child abuse then click the Search The Daily button, 3) Select “The Daily, Thursday, June 28, Family violence: focus on child abuse and children at risk” Pre-digging – Survey the ground ROW 3 -- Would you say there are statistics on the impact of child abuse based on this article in The Daily? ROW 4 – At bottom of article, Click on the cited “Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile 2001 ( XIE”. Would you say there are statistics on the impact of child abuse based on this Statistical profile?

CRM 6325 TOPIC A) What is the source for these statistical findings? (or what is the “GSS”?)

CRM 6325 TOPIC B) Sight and zero in takes a couple of steps… And click on… at end of article This 2001 profile has extensive statistics on child abuse and neglect

CRM 6325 Crime and Justice sources From Surveys (“samples” of population) General Social Survey, Victimization National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth Ethnic Diversity Survey Aboriginal Peoples Survey International Youth Survey (in Canada, Toronto) DLI Contact: From Administrative data (“all” population) (Uniform Crime Report, Homicide Survey, Vital statistics…) Background socio-economic information Census of Population (“all” population)

CRM 6325 WHERE TO DIG (we have used …) Statistics Canada and the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) The Daily (popular media audience)The Daily Regular publications e.g., JuristatRegular publications Juristat Statistical tables – (1) Profile series (index page) andProfile series (index page) (2) Justice tables (more advanced)Justice tables Analytical studies, including Crime and Justice Research Series (index). Search Analytical studies by topicCrime and Justice Research Series (index)Analytical studies by topic Justice Canada (A-Z subject list: see Research and Statistics Reports)A-Z subject listResearch and Statistics Reports National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) – U.S., also internationalNational Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD)international United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

CRM 6325 What kind of digging will you do? A few statistics – you will need a big digger

CRM 6325 WHERE TO DIG (next we will use …) Statistics Canada and the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) The Daily (popular media audience)The Daily Regular publications e.g., JuristatRegular publications Juristat Statistical tables – (1) Profile series (index page) andProfile series (index page) (2) Justice tables (more advanced)Justice tables Analytical studies, including Crime and Justice Research Series (index). Search Analytical studies by topicCrime and Justice Research Series (index)Analytical studies by topic Justice Canada (A-Z subject list: see Research and Statistics Reports)A-Z subject listResearch and Statistics Reports National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) – U.S., also internationalNational Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD)international United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

CRM )YOU NEED A FEW STATISTICS ON YOUR TOPIC win/cnsmcgi.pgm?Lang=E&CORCmd=GetTList&ResultTemplate=Srch1 win/cnsmcgi.pgm?Lang=E&CORCmd=GetTList&ResultTemplate=Srch1 Or from Big Digger

CRM 6325 Here are a several subjects covered by Statistics Canada directly related to crime and justice …

CRM 6325 Digging for data – TOPIC A SENIORS as VICTIMS of CRIME Steps: Click on Seniors  Elder abuse and victimization  Analytical Studies  Seniors As Victims of Crime, March 6, 2007 (html)  ROW 1 – Is income level a factor for seniors as victims of crime and if so, what is the relationship? Go to: Tables and figures  Table 5 ROW 2 –How much more likely are seniors to be the victim of a crime than non-seniors? Go to: Highlights

CRM 6325 Digging for data – TOPIC B CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT and ITS IMPACT Step 1: Click on Children and youth  ROW 3 – Find Table C, what Family characteristics (e.g., specific types of child abuse or neglect, are related to aggressive behaviour at age 12-13? Go to: Crime and justice (youth)  Analytical studies  Problem behaviour and delinquency in children and youth (2001) ROW 4 –Which has greater impact on children’s social behaviour, family characteristics including high levels of dysfunction/punitive parenting, or learning disabilities? Go to: Health and well-being (youth)  Analytical Studies  Learning Disabilities and Child Altruism, Anxiety, and Aggression, June 28, 2006, html

CRM 6325 What kind of digging will you do? 2) You need complex statistics and some detail – you need a search engine or you may need software

CRM 6325 WHERE TO DIG (next we will use …) Statistics Canada and the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) The Daily (popular media audience)The Daily Regular publications e.g., JuristatRegular publications Juristat Statistical tables – (1) Profile series (index page) andProfile series (index page) (2) Justice tables (more advanced)Justice tables Analytical studies, including Crime and Justice Research Series (index). Search Analytical studies by topicCrime and Justice Research Series (index)Analytical studies by topic Justice Canada (A-Z subject list: see Research and Statistics Reports)A-Z subject listResearch and Statistics Reports National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) – U.S., also internationalNational Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD)international United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

CRM 6325 Justice tables – Hands on … EXERCISE 1 1)Click on: tables.html tables.html 2)Browse listing – what do you recognize? 2) Go to: 3) Select Census Metropolitan Areas, 1991 to 2006Census Metropolitan Areas, 1991 to ) Let’s browse through the detailled offenses, then build a statistical table showing offender characteristics and related statistics for homicides by city and gender Crime Statistics Canada, the Provinces and Territories, 1977 to 2006 Census Metropolitan Areas, 1991 to 2006 All Police Services, 1977 to 2006 Major Crimes Categories, Municipal Police Services, 1977 to 2006 Ontario Provincial Police, 1977 to 2006 Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 1977 to 2006 Sûreté du Québec, 1977 to 2006

CRM 6325 Beyond 20/20 CCJS Justice table

CRM 6325 Download from Beyond 20/20 1)Click on File  Save as  2)Select your directory to save to 3)Type a file name 4)Select.xls as “Save as type” 5)Click on “Save” 6)Open your file in Excel

CRM 6325 The Census of Population by Cities, Towns, Provinces, the Nation

CRM 6325 Use Census socio-demographic statistics Compare territorial and provincial total crime rates per 100,000 people for 2006 … by Census 2006 housing adequacy/crowding statistics (a measure of poverty): A 'room' is an enclosed area within a dwelling which is finished and suitable for year-round living (e.g., kitchen, dining-room, or bedroom). Not counted as rooms are bathrooms, halls, vestibules and rooms used solely for business purposes.

CRM 6325 Use Census socio-demographic statistics for comparison Community Profiles…

CRM 6325 Community profiles at … Statistics Canada’s public Web site: (start here)

CRM 6325 Step 1: Select Community Profiles from left sidebar

CRM 6325 Step 2: Select a province or territory note, you can also find cities (place name, e.g., Dawson)

CRM 6325 Step 3, e.g., click on “Yukon Territory”

CRM 6325 Step 4, Select Families and households

CRM 6325 Note, you have columns for province- territory/country (always) and can change regions from here…

CRM 6325 Use Census socio-demographic statistics for comparison STEP 1 ) Community Profiles … Find the % … …for Row 1 Canada Row 2 Northwest Territories Yukon Row 3 AlbertaSaskatchewan Row 4 British Columbia Manitoba 1) Click on: to start

CRM 6325 Crowding highs and lows Crowding - Dwellings with more than one person per room - as a % of total occupied private dwellings (note defn of rooms) Row 1Canada 1.5% Row 2Northwest Territories 4.6% Row 2Yukon 1.5% Row 3Saskatchewan 1.4% Row 4British Columbia 1.9% Row 3Alberta 1.3% Row 4Manitoba 1.8%

CRM 6325 Use Census socio-demographic statistics for comparison STEP 2) Criminal Justice Tables … Find the total crime rate per 100,000 population in 2006 for : Row 1 Canada Row 2 Northwest Territories Yukon Row 3 AlbertaSaskatchewan Row 4 British Columbia Manitoba 1) Click on: tables.html to starthttp://nesstar.tdr.uoguelph.ca/JUSTICE/CJ/2008/DOCS/cj08- tables.html

CRM 6325 Time permitting, practise downloading from Beyond 20/20 1)Prepare your Beyond 20/20 table as you wish it to appear in Excel 2)Click on File  Save as  3)Select your directory to save to 4)Type a file name 5)Select.xls as “Save as type” 6)Click on “Save” 7)Open your file in Excel

CRM 6325 Source

CRM 6325 Crime rates (all crimes) per 100,000 in 2006 Row 1 Canada < 10,000 Row 2 Northwest Territories > 40,000 Yukon Approximately half of NWT’s Row 3 Alberta Lower than Saskatchewan’s Saskatchewan > 12,000 Row 4 British Columbia Similar Manitoba Similar

CRM 6325 Crime rates (all crimes) per 100,000 - Specifics Row 1 Canada 8269 : LOW Row 2 Northwest Territories : HIGH Yukon : MID-HIGH Row 3 Alberta : LOW Saskatchewan : MID Row 4 British Columbia 12564: MID LOW Manitoba 12,325 : MID LOW

CRM crime rates compared to housing adequacy Total crimes per 100,000 population Crowding - Dwellings with more than one person per room - as a % of total occupied private dwellings (note defn of rooms) Canada % Northwest Territories % Yukon % Saskatchewan % British Columbia % Alberta % Manitoba 12,3251.8% Ontario %

CRM 6325 Data source – e.g., surveys or the Census From your mailbox: May 16, 2006 … to coffee break talk September 13, 2007 Married people now in the minority; For the first time in Canada, most adults are not legally wed, census shows. …more people are choosing common law over marriage."

CRM 6325 Where do we get statistics from? From DATA They are processed to become… …Statistics Person 1…2

CRM 6325 From Data to Statistics Person / Incident 1 Person / Incident 2 Raw coded data (confidential)Anonymized data (PUMF) Statistics Summarized/aggregate data (Statistics)

CRM 6325 From Data to Statistics Person 1 Person 2 Raw coded data (confidential)Anonymized data (PUMF) Statistics Summarized/aggregate data (Statistics) Data Liberation Initiatve COOL RDC Public

CRM 6325 SPSS hands-on data exercise – On your own time GOAL: Make a table from GSS Victimisation data Open our data file: –Click on: license/gss_general_social_survey/c18-victimisation-2004/eng/data/gss18pumfm class-only.sav

CRM 6325 How to Cite Statistics Canada products

CRM 6325 How to Cite Statistics Canada Products XIE htmhttp:// XIE htm

CRM 6325 Other official agencies which could have statistics or background information on crime source for table …”Keep the source agency for your information in mind” 1.Lawmaking Parliament 2.Policy Department of Justice Solicitor General Canada RCMP Correctional Service Canada National Parole Board 3. Crime prevention Department of Justice Solicitor General Canada RCMP Correctional Service Canada 4. Investigation RCMP as federal, provincial, and municipal police forces 5. Prosecution Department of Justice 6. Courts Supreme Court of Canada and other courts 7. Legal aid Department of Justice 8. Managing sentences Correctional Service Canada 9. Conditional release & pardons National Parole Board 10. Rehabilitation and reintegration Correctional Service Canada and National Parole Board

CRM 6325 OFFICIAL SOURCES OF CRIME STATISTICS (for comparative or international data…) Statistics Canada and the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) The Daily (popular media audience)The Daily Regular publications e.g., JuristatRegular publications Juristat Statistical tables – (1) Profile series (index page) andProfile series (index page) (2) Justice tables (more advanced)Justice tables Analytical studies, including Crime and Justice Research Series (index). Search Analytical studies by topicCrime and Justice Research Series (index)Analytical studies by topic Justice Canada (A-Z subject list: see Research and Statistics Reports)A-Z subject listResearch and Statistics Reports National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) – U.S., also internationalNational Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD)international United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

CRM 6325 … and moving into more critical resources (on why etc.)

CRM 6325 Find journal articles on government policy page.php?g=en&s=biblio&c=src-bas page.php?g=en&s=biblio&c=src-bas … and choose Canadian Public Policy Collection et World Wide Political Science Abstracts Or from…

CRM 6325 Data and related assistance! Susan Mowers Morisset Library 3 rd Floor Extension 3634 AND THANK YOU!

CRM 6325 Tabulate

CRM 6325 Cross tabulating in SPSS 1.Click on Analyse and Descriptive Statistics: 2.Then click on Cross-tabs … OPEN DATA FILE: /eng/data/gss18main.sav

CRM 6325 Cross-tabulating cont’d 3. Scroll down until you arrive here (you will start by selecting these three variables)

CRM 6325 Cross-tabulating cont’d 4. Click on the variable below and click on arrow for Row(s), we will continue on for the next two variables below..

CRM 6325 Cross-tabulating cont’d 5. Select the next variable below as shown, click on the same arrow (Row(s)) and do the same for the next variable below.

CRM 6325 Cross-tabulating cont’d 6.Three variables will appear in the Rows box. 7. Click on Visible minority status (just above), then click on the arrow for Column(s)

CRM 6325 You are ready to cross-tabulate! 8. Click on “OK”

CRM 6325 OUR CROSS-TABULATION!!